Josef Harpe

Josef Harpe (21 September 1887-14 March 1968) was a Colonel-General of Nazi Germany during World War II who led the German 9th Army from 4 November 1943 on 19 May 1944, succeeding Walther Model and preceding Hans Jordan.

Biography
Josef Harpe was born on 21 September 1887 in Buer, Westphalia, German Empire. Harpe joined the Imperial German Army in 1909 and served in World War I, and he remained in the Reichswehr after the war. At the start of World War II, he was a Colonel in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany, leading the XXXXI Panzer Corps against the Soviet Union and later the German 9th Army, defending Lwow in the Lwow-Sandomierz Offensive of July-August 1944. His last command was Army Group A, leading it from 28 September 1944 to 17 January 1945, when he was relieved of his command for the inability of his forces to defend against the Red Army during the Vistula-Oder Offensive. At the end of the war, he led the 5th Panzer Army, and from 1945 to 1948 he was imprisoned by the United States. He died in 1968.